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Posted

So, I'm writing a woodwind quartet piece and something that just crossed my mind is that maybe I'm having the 3 upper woodwinds too far away from the bassoon in pitch. In particular, I'm wondering if I have the clarinet too far from the bassoon in pitch since the clarinet is the alto of the standard woodwinds(not saying that it doesn't fill in the soprano role, it's just more mellow in the alto range). Oboe would be mezzo-soprano and flute would for obvious reasons be soprano. This leaves the bassoon to cover both the tenor and bass. So, here are the first 4 chords that act as an introduction to my woodwind quartet piece before you really get into the melody. In my piece, it sounds more like arpeggios, but for convenience, I will spell them out like chords here.

74277520_ChordalIntro-1.thumb.png.114158f43d74d6dc26314cd9fa0ac59a.png

Now, this image was taken with Concert Pitch on in my notation software. I did this to make it easier to see relations between the Clarinet and the other woodwinds. As you can see, I have the Bassoon and Clarinet in 10ths. The Clarinet and Oboe are in thirds. And, for the most part, the Flute and Oboe are in fourths with the only exception being the final chord where the flute leaps up a fifth and is thus a 9th away from the oboe. I had the flute leap up instead of continuing the descent for register reasons(C4 to A4 is weak on the flute, especially when you have the oboe and clarinet in close proximity, low register on the flute is better for a flute solo than 4 part harmony). The range between the Bassoon and the Flute is 2 octaves for the first 3 chords and 2 octaves + a fifth for the final chord, so I would say I have a pretty good spacing between the highest and lowest of the woodwinds. Between the 2 double reeds, there is a distance of a twelfth.

So, is this a good spacing for the woodwind chords or does this need to be improved? Are the Bassoon and Clarinet too far? Are the Oboe and Flute too close?

Posted

Well, it all depends on what effect you want to achieve. Generally, I would say that the space between the clarinet and bassoon is fine, but it could even be increased to further separate the sound into two "planes". Also depending on what effect you want to achieve, you could use a bit of a higher register in the flute and oboe, and perhaps in the clarinet. It would sound a bit more brilliant. The Bb on the flute could easily be played on the higher octave, or you could ask it to play a D, while the oboe plays a Bb in the middle of the stave and the clarinet an F (E, if transposed) just a third up.

But ultimately, see what particular instance you need right now.

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